Lone Hobbit
by Baruk Khazad
Summary: After Bilbo is thrown out by Thorin (Chapter 17 from the book) he decides it is time to get rid of the ring. Not telling anyone where he was going and only leaving a note. A note with a confession to Thorin, saying that he has always loved him. Do to this confession, Thorin is able to come out of his gold sickness, but he has to live with the things he lost. For now, that is.


"You! You!" cried Thorin, turning upon him and grasping him with both hands. "You miserable hobbit! You undersized-burglar!" he shouted at a loss for words, and he shook poor Bilbo like a rabbit.

"By the beard of Durin! I wish I had Gandalf here! Curse him for his choice of you! May his beard wither! As for you I will throw you to the rocks!" he cried and lifted Bilbo in his arms.

"Stay! Your wish is granted!" said a voice. The old man with the casket threw aside his hood and cloak. "Here is Gandalf! And none too soon it seems. If you don't like my Burglar, please don't damage him. Put him down, and listen first to what he has to say!"

"You all seem in league!" said Thorin dropping Bilbo on the top of the wall. "Never again will I have dealings with any wizard or his friends. What have you to say, you descendant of rats?"

"Dear me! Dear me!" said Bilbo. "I am sure this is all very uncomfortable. You may remember saying that I might choose my own fourteenth share? Perhaps I took it too literally -I have been told that dwarves are sometimes politer in word than in deed. The time was, all the same, when you seemed to think that I had been of some service. Descendant of rats, indeed! Is this ail the service of you and your family that I was promised. Thorin?

Take it that I have disposed of my share as I wished, and let it go at that!"

"I will," said Thorin grimly. "And I will let you go at that-and may we never meet again!" Then he turned and spoke over the wall. "I am betrayed," he said. "It was rightly guessed that I could not forbear to redeem the Arkenstone, the treasure of my house. For it I will give one fourteenth share of the hoard in silver and gold, setting aside the gems; but that shall be accounted the promised share of this traitor, and with that reward he shall depart, and you can divide it as you will. He will get little enough, I doubt not. Take him, if you wish him to live; and no friendship of mine goes with him.

"Get down now to your friends!" he said to Bilbo, "or I will throw you down."

"What about the gold and silver?" asked Bilbo.

"That shall follow after, as can be arranged," said he.

"Get down!"

"Until then we keep the stone," cried Bard.

"You are not making a very splendid figure as King under the Mountain," said Gandalf. "But things may change yet."

"They may indeed," said Thorin. And already, so strong was the bewilderment of the treasure upon him, he was pondering whether by the help of Dain he might not recapture the Arkenstone and withhold the share of the reward.

And so Bilbo was swung down from the wall, and departed with nothing for all his trouble, except the armour which Thorin had given him already. More than one of the dwarves 'in their hearts felt shame and pity at his going. "Farewell!" he cried to them. "We may meet again as friends."

Bilbo paced back and forth, distraught. Thorin had thrown him out. His King, his dwarf, the only person he'd ever loved. e sighed and placed a hand in his pocket, feeling something familiar.

"Oh blast it!" Bilbo growled and pulled out the golden ring out of his pocket. He had tried burning it once before, not that it helped any. After the fire had died the ring had still been there, cool as ever, but with ancient elvish inscripted on it. He had heard stories about it, this ring, but hadn't believed them to be true. Actually seeing it and holding it in his hands, he felt horrified by the thought that he had been in possession of such an awful thing. He also felt ashamed that he could tell no one about this object for so long. He decided that he would not tell anyone about the ring, but he would destroy it himself.

He moved himself from his tent and to the stables. He was looking over all the horses to see with one he could ride.

"This one will be the best. It's just your size and she's in her prime," Bilbo jumped as Bard appeared behind him. "I won't ask where you're going, nor will I ask why. Just take care of yourself." Bard passed the reins to Bilbo before he left. Bilbo watched him go, grateful that he had been understanding enough not to question Bilbo.

"Come," he pulled the horse along, back to his tent. He left the horse there and went into the small house, taking out a quill and paper to leave a note.

"Dear Gandalf,

"I know you will be very angry at me because of my choices, but this is something I have to do. If you have not already known, I found something in the cave with the goblins. I told you and the dwarves that I had found my courage, this was not the case. I have found something so terrible that I have taken it upon myself to destroy the dreaded thing.

"If you have not figured it out yet, it is the Ring of Sauron. I am terribly sorry for not telling you earlier, but for some reason I do not know, I could not tell you.

"If I do not return, by some unknown chance, then I would ask for you to tell my dwarves something.

"To Kili, trust in your heart and you will find the one to truly make you happy. To Fili, don't do anything too crazy to your brother, he will understand everything soon enough. Ori, don't be scared by Dwalin, he may look like a bear, but he's a cuddly toy on the inside. Nori, don't string Bofur along forever, he is very fond of you. Dori, take care of the two for me, I couldn't stand it if anything happened to them.

"Bifur, though I could barely understand you, you have taught me so much, thank you. Bofur, I know you fear what Nori may say if he finds out that he is your One, but I'm sure he already knows. Bombur, I'm sorry that I may not be able to meet your wife and child, wish them the best for me.

"Oin, you def dwarf, thank you for all you help with my aches and pains, I'm not getting any younger you know. Gloin, I hope you son will become a great warrior one day, I know he'll take after his father. Bailn, thank you for your wisdom and knowledge throughout our journey. Dwalin, don't fear what you may do to Ori, I know, for a fact, that you could never hurt him, even if you tried.

"Thorin, I'm not sure if you'll ever get over your gold sickness or if you'll ever forgive me, but I believe you should know. I am irreversibly, disbelievingly, crazily in love with you. I know you may never feel the same, I know that you may hate me for writing this, but I must tell you before I go off to my inevitable death.

"To the Elves of the Woodland Realm, i know you wish to have the Arkenstone, but it will only cause you harm. Just like the way Erebor fell, the Elves will contract a sickness and fall in to temptation.

"To Bard, thank you. For everything. If I could take anyone with me, just to help me keep moving, it would be you. Tell your children stories of the brave Hobbit that once crossed your lands, I'm sure they'll love that story.

"Goodbye My friends,

"Bilbo."

Bilbo placed the noted under a paper weight, knowing that someone would find it. He then exited his tent, going back to his horse. "Come, we must be leaving now. Before anyone spots us," the horse whinnied and trotted on.

A week later, Gandalf found the note. He had disappeared, the same night Bilbo had, but for a different reason. He had to read and reread the noted before it actually set in that Bilbo wasn't there anymore. There was only one place he could go, one place that the ring could be destroyed, Mount Doom. Sadly, he could not go after Bilbo, Thorin had started a war. And he may be the only one to keep the stubborn dwarf alive.

"Thorin! You stubborn, no good, gold sick dwarf!" Gandalf billowed storming into Erebor's throne room. Fili and Kili, who were on both sides of the throne with their backs to Gandalf, jumped and turned around. "Do you know what you are causing?! There is a war going on down there, a war started by your greediness!"

"Be gone with you wizard!" Thorin shouted back, he didn't want to hear what he had done, the people he had hurt, the things he had started, none of it.

"No, you will sit down and you will listen to what I have to say!" Darkness started surrounding him, just like it had done in Bilbo's home. "There is an army down there waiting to fight for your damn Arkenstone, there is also a Hobbit that you have hurt." The darkness slowly disappeared. "He left to Mount Doom, I believed it was only honorable to tell you this because he left you in his note." Gandalf turned and, by chance or some other fate or even by Gandalf himself, Bilbo's note fell out of his pocket and to the floor as Gandalf left.

Fili tentatively reached out to grab it, lifting it up and reading it, glancing over at Kili and Thorin as he read the letter. He gasped at the last part, confused by what he was reading. "Thorin," Fili started, "I believe you need to read this," he handed Thorin the peace of paper. He said nothing as he read, just like he had said nothing for the days after Bilbo had left.

"He what?!" Thorin stood, making his crown fall back onto the throne. "If he had- why didn't he- curse that Hobbit!" Thorin pulled his cloak off and threw it down. "Fili! Kili! Call the rest of the Company. We have a Hobbit to find."

"Thorin that is crazy!" Balin cried, shaking his head. "I know you've been having feelings for Bilbo, but you cannot just give up everything and go after him. We don't even know where he is, we know where he's going, but not which root he went. It is too dangerous to go after him," Balin placed his hand on Thorin's slumped shoulder. He knew what his King was going through and he wanted to help him, but he knew it was too dangerous.

"There must be something I can do, Balin, there must be something." Thorin looked to his oldest friend, not knowing what he could possible do to help.

"There is nothing you can do. You wait and pray, from everything we have experienced I'm sure he can take care of himself. We will wait for word from Gandalf if- when Bilbo returns. When Bilbo returns, whether it be to the Shire or Erebor itself, we have to be ready to welcome him back. You must be ready to welcome him back," Thorin sighed and nodded.

"This is my fault, isn't it Balin? If I had just been… nicer to the Hobb- Bilbo then maybe he wouldn't have-"

"Come now Uncle," Fili said, giving his Uncle a sorrowful look. "You read the note, same as I, you know he would have done this sooner or later. He knows the power this ring holds and he wants to stop it from falling into the wrong hands."

"I know, Fili, I know. I just hope he returns safely." Thorin sighed. You better come back, little Hobbit, I will be waiting for you.


End file.
